KOS WE ARE HERE

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DAY 71 'KOS WE'RE GOING SAILING

We take the BLUE STAR FERRY, a huge vessel on a three hour journey from Rhodes to Kos. We arrive and take a taxi to out lodging for the night. The apartment is 13 km out of Kos town and it sits across the road from the beach and has a really nice swimming pool. However there is no manager on the premises and we have no idea what to do and what room is ours. The people staying there said that they were given a room number and the key was left in the door for their arrival. There two doors with keys in them so we took one room but they had only two beds and we needed three beds. Being bold women we took a mattress from one room and carried it to our room. We had a nice swim in the pool and played cards in the room till around sunset, 9pm, when we decided to take a walk. It was then that we discovered the caretakers at the pool. We found out that even though we had confirmation of our booking in writing, the manager had no idea that we were coming. Oh, wait she has a booking for us for 27 July. We arrived 20 June. The owner, a dentist, who lives in Athens and gave us confirmation gave her a date five weeks in advance. So needless to say that we were in the wrong room. We had to pack up all of our gear that was all over the room and move it to a separate building in the complex. Luckily they had a spare room with three beds. Other people were arriving later in the night to take the room we had just vacated.
We had missed the sunset😞

The mosquitoes were very bad here and we were glad to stay only one night. We did spend some time socializing with an older couple and their family. She was from Scotland and he was from Norway. So she had moved to Norway 51 years ago. So we were happy to talk about our time spent in Scotland since that is were Francine and I met.

DAY 72

We pack our bags and hang out in front of the hotel at the bus stop for about 45 min. waiting for the bus to come. We arrive back in Kos Town and go to the marina and drop off our bags in the storage area.

We explore the town and walk up to the castle and wander through it. Francine finds the tunnels and side room and investigates, it is too dark to delve. There were great views of the sea from the fortress walls.

We also get to see the Hypocrites Tree. This is a extremely old sycamore tree that Hypocrites supposedly taught his student under. The tree has bracing to hold it's massive branches.

We do a little shopping but we don't really need much. We have lunch and are ready to meet our new group and sailing buddies.

The new group is with the GAP Adventure travels and we have our skipper Kutta from Germany (60yo), our fellow sailors are Angela from Germany (living 9n UK), Bryan from NZ, and Laurie from USA.

After a short meeting on land we board the boat and get settled in our new quarters for the next three weeks. Francine and I are sharing a forward cabin, with a toilet and shower combo. Yvonne is in the other forward cabin and has it all to her self. The others are in the rear cabins. Francine has her sea sick wrist bands on and is prepared for the journey.

We go out for dinner and meet up with the captain that will be doing our last two weeks. He has the week off and Kutta is replacing him for this week. They are both pretty nice and we will see what happens.

Off to our below quarters for the night. We dream of sailing.

DAY 73

We wake up on the boat in our little cabin and can't wait to get up and start our sailing adventure. Breakfast is hand squeeze OJ, bread, butter, jam, coffee, juice, cheese. Breakfast lingers on and Angie, especially is getting impatient. Finally the boat is underway however, the winds are not favorable. So we have to motor out till we can catch the wind.

The captain allows each of us to steer the boat. We find that steering with the sails up is a tricky business and needs constant and full attention to catching the wind in the sails. We are enjoying our ride even though the boat is leaning to one side while the sails are up. So most of us are on the starboard side to compensate.

Some of us want to go swimming so the captain stops off the coast of Kalymnos and allows the boat to drift. Yvonne jumps in first and we immediately find that the currents are very strong and the boat quickly drifts away from her. I jump in next and I know to stay close to the boat and Laurie jumps in after me and we both swim to maintain an arms length away from the ladder. The water is very cold and we quickly return to the boat, now cooled off we are ready to sit in the sun. The Captain is with Angela (German) is teaching her how to tie knots and he ignores repeated requests to go pick up Yvonne who now has drifted very far from us (about 100 metres/100 yards). She has been trying to swim back to the boat but to no avail the current is too strong. Finally Francine gets through the captain's head, after several requests, that Yvonne needs to be picked up. He finally stops his insignificant dallying with a passenger and turns the boat around to pick up Yvonne. A real reminder that this trip has its dangers.

We then motor to the other side of the island of Kalymnos and dock in the marina. This island is full of mountains and is known for rock climbing. Sponge diving is the main activity and item for sale on this small island. It has 16000 inhabitants and is 111 square km big. This is a small little Greek town with a colonnade along the marina with restaurants and shops. Francine and I use our free time on the internet. But the Greek phone system is com ce com sa. Which means it goes off every few minutes. The advice from the internet owner is wait a few minutes it will come back on.

Dinner is a group affair to a place recommended by Bryan a fellow passenger. It is a quaint little place in a side alley and mentioned in the Loney Planet Guide. The restaurant has been running since 1915 and the food was delicious.

We wander back to the boat along the promenade. Off to bed to dream of a another Greek Island sailing day.

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Photos

YVONNE POSES WITH GEEK
RRRRRRRRRRRRRR....

BRIAN THIS IS FOR YOU
Angie's nephwe has taken up juggling.

RHODES GROG INN
Our wine supplier

CHEERS!
Goodbye Rhodes

YVONNE RELAXING IN THE KIDDY AREA
On the ferry to Kos

TAGIKI
Our pool with the sea behind us.

BALANCING ACT
Under Hipocrates Tree

YING/YANG
Or Laurel and Hardy